Live OurHeritage

Heritage House

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Please note, this venue is currently UNDER RENOVATION and will be closed to the public until further notice.

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Located in one of the oldest urban sites in Dubai, the Heritage House was established by Mr. Matar Saeed bin Mazina in 1890, to provide a comprehensive description of the nature of local traditional housing with its content, values and the approaches created by man to tackle the everyday life, in addition to dealing with the conditions of the desert environment with its hot and dusty weather, all to obtain physical and moral comfort. The house consists of two floors and it was built of coral, stone, plaster, teakwood, chandal wood, and the fronds and trunks of palm trees.

The visitor of the Heritage House will enjoy a unique opportunity to experience and discover many household tools and utensils (i.e. pottery, copper, wood and glass items), furniture, clothes, jewellery, cosmetics, historical toys of both, local and imported make of those times, from India and the East coast of Africa. In addition, the visitor will be able to form an adequate vision of the elements of historical heritage houses, with their rooms, divans (grand halls) and air towers (Barajeel), as well as the methods of its designs, distributions and relations between such elements and the inner courtyard, around which all the house components were organised. The philosophy of the Heritage House is based on the diversity of spaces, whether closed, semi-open or open. The visitor will be able to realise how the local architectural designer had perfectly employed these elements to satisfy the needs of the living, achieving privacy of houses as well as making them comfortable and consistent with the religious values and social traditions.

Your visit to the Heritage House will give the visitor a chance to know the traditional lifestyle that has been lived in historical houses, in addition to finding out the innovative and skilful methods and techniques used to provide the daily life's needs. Also, it will reveal the multiple and diverse methods, for having fun and entertainment within the local community, gleeful and open, despite the scarcity of resources and hardships in that era of Dubai history.

Geographical location

Al Ras area - Deira

Area

935 square metres

Working hours

From Saturday to Thursday, from 8:00 until 19:30, and Fridays, from 14:30 until 19:30

Admission fees

Free of charge

Tourism guidance

Available for free

Telephone

04-226 0286 and
04-515 5000​​

E-mail

info@dubaiculture.ae

Public transport buses

The Heritage House is located halfway between Gold Souq and the Al Ras bus stations

Metro stations

You can reach the location through the Al Ras Metro Station

Parking areas

You are advised to use public transport, due to the scarcity of parking areas, since the House is located in a crowded commercial area​